Hillary Clinton to keep troops in Iraq if elected

[mikey]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/14/wa...linton.html?hp


Is she committing hari-kiri?

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[patsfan13]

Maybe she read the reports out of Iraq about the early phases of the troops surge?

[mikey]

Originally Posted by patsfan13

Maybe she read the reports out of Iraq about the early phases of the troops surge?

What part of New Jersey are you from?


.

[3 to be 4]

Its actually taking a page from Bill's campaign of 1992. Unlike Dukakis, Mondale, and Kerry, she realizes just winning the nomination is meaningless.

With her money and organization and standing in the Democratic Party, she has to almost set up her general election campaign now, run to the center, and assume she'll still be able to win the nomination. It is what Bill did in 1992 when, like Tsongas, he ran in the center, and even took on Jesse Jackson, banking on his being the best candidate who had the money and organization to defeat the wannabes like Tsongas and Brown.

The Clintons are politically brilliant, they understand the triangle of running from the center, and if you read the article her stances are way to the left of what we have now.

MCain is the one committing suicide with his embracing of Bush. Guiliani will unravel when his views are out there. Obama too, although he will make strong primary showings. Edwards may be the underated one.

But its clearly the Democrats year in 2008. And the way shes running to the center, im more and more convinced Hillary Clinton will be our next President.
45% of the country may hate her. They hated Bill too.

[patsfan13]

Originally Posted by mikey

What part of New Jersey are you from?


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North NJ ten char

[fleabassist1]

I agree with keeping the troops in Iraq and SLOWLY pulling them out. I don't get anyone who say's we should immediatly pull them all out... think there are problems now? Just wait if Iraq collapses without our help. Saddam was a good guy compaired to some of these other radicals.

[Patters]

She's the first candidate to a position other than "I back Bush" or "Get the troops home now." As fleabassist pointed out, we can't just pull out of Iraq without creating a mess, but it seems to me Hillary is assuming the Iraqis will want us there if our troops are no longer acting as a police force.

From the article:

WASHINGTON, March 14 — Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton foresees a “remaining military as well as political mission” in Iraq, and says that if elected president, she would keep a reduced but significant military force there to fight Al Qaeda, deter Iranian aggression, protect the Kurds and possibly support the Iraqi military.....In a half-hour interview on Tuesday in her Senate office, Mrs. Clinton said the scaled-down American military force that she would maintain in Iraq after taking office would stay off the streets in Baghdad and would no longer try to protect Iraqis from sectarian violence — even if it descended into ethnic cleansing.

In outlining how she would handle Iraq as commander in chief, Mrs. Clinton articulated a more-nuanced position than the one she has provided at her campaign events, where she has backed the goal of “bringing the troops home.” ............She said in the interview that there were “remaining vital national security interests in Iraq” that would require a continuing deployment of American troops.

............“It is right in the heart of the oil region. It is directly in opposition to our interests, to the interests of regimes, to Israel’s interests.”........“So I think it will be up to me to try to figure out how to protect those national security interests and continue to take our troops out of this urban warfare, which I think is a loser,” Mrs. Clinton added. She declined to estimate the number of American troops she would keep in Iraq, saying she would draw on the advice of the military officers who would have to carry out the strategy.

Mrs. Clinton’s plans carry some political risk. Although she has been extremely critical of the Bush administration’s handling of the war, some liberal Democrats are deeply suspicious of her intentions on Iraq, given that she voted in 2002 to authorize the use of force there and, unlike some of her rivals for the Democratic nomination, has not apologized for having done so. Senator Clinton’s proposal is also likely to stir up debate among military specialists. Some counterinsurgency experts say the plan is unrealistic because Iraqis are unlikely to provide useful tips about Al Qaeda operatives if American troops curtail their interaction with the Iraqi public and end their efforts to protect Iraqi neighborhoods. But a former Pentagon official argued that such an approach would minimize American casualties and thus make it easier politically to sustain a long-term military presence that might prevent the fighting from spreading throughout the region..........Mrs. Clinton has said she would vote for a proposed Democratic resolution on Iraq now being debated on the floor of the Senate, which sets a goal of redeploying all combat forces by March 31, 2008. Asked if her Iraq plan was consistent with the resolution, Mrs. Clinton and her advisers said it was, noting that the resolution also called for “a limited number” of troops to stay in Iraq to protect the American Embassy and other personnel, train and equip Iraqi forces, and conduct “targeted counter-terrorism operation.”.............With many Democratic primary voters favoring a total withdrawal from Iraq. Senator Clinton appears to trying to balance her own short-term political interests with the need to retain some flexibility to deal with the complexities of Middle East. Like other Democratic candidates, she has called for engaging Iran and Syria in discussions and called on President Bush to reverse his troop buildup.......But while Mrs. Clinton has criticized Mr. Bush’s troop reinforcements as an escalation of war, she said in the interview, “We’re doing it and it’s unlikely we can stop it.” ....

[Pujo]

The Dems make me sick. When Pelosi was talking about the "actions" they're going to take (By July 2007 if nothing happens, we'll begin the 180 day countdown. Then if nothing happens by October, we'll begin a second countdown. Then if the first countdown runs out, we'll look into what we should do). The Democrats were elected to stop this war, period! This is why people hate them so much, no spine.

[PatsSB42]

Originally Posted by mikey

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/14/wa...linton.html?hp


Is she committing hari-kiri?

.

She feels very strongly both ways

[Real World]

She's a fraud fony POS. First she was a staunch supporter, then a criticizing supporter, then a defender of her vote, then a "if I only knew what I know now" person, which moved to a "if you elect me I'll bring all the troops home" presidential candidate, to now being an I'll keep the troops there girl.

What a fraud she is. No wonder Patters loves her.